Page 65 of November

“I think so. We have a date planned for after the election, but I’ve been so focused on that recently that she and I haven’t really talked. We’ve texted a few times, but I haven’t seen her since the night of the soccer game.”

“When she wore the heels?” Lainey laughed. “It was nice of her to come, though. Hey, do you think she can come to the next one, too? She might be good luck.”

“I don’t know. I can ask.”

“Make sure you tell her to wear jeans and a sweater or something. Oh, and tennis shoes. I bet she had to throw out those expensive shoes.”

“It was fun, though, right? At the restaurant after.”

“Yeah, I had fun. Paige likes her, too.”

“Can you see us…” Maisie started and sighed. “I don’t know; together? Are wetoodifferent?”

“Hey, I think I stressed you out before when I shouldn’t have,” Lainey said. “India’s great. Yes, she’s rich and dresses like it, but she’s not as pretentious as I thought she’d be, and I don’t think she’s anything like thatotherrich person you’ve been dealing with recently. If you like her, just go for it. Don’t let that stupid shit get in your way.”

“She gets these looks on her face whenever she doesn’t really want to do something, and I can see it every time. Like, when I invited her to the game, her face showed me just how much she didnotwant to watch high school soccer.”

“Not many people actuallywantto watch high school soccer. I have to because it’s my job, and the parents go because their kids play. We’re lucky my team is good, and it’sbetter than some other teams that just kick the ball around, but I can’t blame her for not wanting to go on a date in the bleachers.”

“It wasn’t meant to be a date. It was just a chance for us to have some time together. I wanted to see her again, and I had plans already.”

“Did you tellherthat?”

“No, because I saw her face, Lainey. It was like she was doing mental math or something.”

“Mental math?”

“Yes, like weighing all her options, thinking about those bleachers, what she would wear, how uncomfortable she’d be, and deciding that she didn’t want to do it. God, I wonder if that was what Finley saw all the time.”

“You know who you could ask about that?”

“Who?”

“Finley,” Lainey suggested with a laugh. “She works next door.”

“I can’t just ask her that.”

“Yes, you can. If you feel like you need to know, ask. But I’d also suggest telling India how it felt and that you wanted to spend time with her.”

“She knows that. We’re dating.”

“You’re infuriating,” Lainey said, laughing. “I’m going back to work.”

“You and Paige just do that, huh?”

“Do what?”

“Work. You just work.”

Lainey shrugged a shoulder and said, “Yeah, we do.”

“I don’t know that India and I do,” Maisie shared.

“And I don’t know that you’ve really given it much of a chance yet,” Lainey replied and walked back over to the shelf.

???

“Hi,” India said with a smile.